A new space has opened on Jeju Island for discovering the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and promoting exchanges between ASEAN and Jeju. Jeju ASEAN Hall, the first joint project undertaken by the ASEAN-Korea Centre and Jeju Island with the aim of strengthening mutual understanding and people-to-people connections, opened at the International Peace Center Jeju, Thursday. Attending the ceremony were Foreign Minister Park Jin, Jeju Gov. Oh Young-hun, ASEAN-Korea Centre Sec

Korean book events are scheduled to take place in eight countries, hosted by the Culture Ministry in collaboration with the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea and the Korean Cultural Centers overseas. Korean Cultural Centers in Indonesia, Vietnam, Mexico, Argentina, Egypt, the United Kingdom, Poland and France plan to hold book exhibitions, seminars and talks with Korean authors and translators throughout the remainder of the year. Poland and Egypt are scheduled to host their K-book

  Visit royal palaces for Chuseok Over the Chuseok holiday, the four major royal palaces -- Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung, Changgyeonggung -- the royal tombs and the Jongmyo shrine in Seoul will be open and free to the public, from Friday to Monday. The four palaces, which usually close on Mondays, will be closed on Tuesday instead. Jongmyo will also be closed on Tuesday. At Changgyeonggung, a special Chuseok event titled "Full Moon Lands on the Royal Palace" will take

  The recent record-breaking downpour in Gangnam, which is generally recognized as a wealthy neighborhood, led to flooded roads and paralyzed urban infrastructure and brought attention to Seoul’s “banjiha” basement apartments. Alfredo Brillembourg, a New York-based architect who founded Urban-Think Tank (U-TT), an architecture design firm, in 1998, shared his views on Seoul’s urban design and sustainability. “The banjiha units … would be defined as &lsqu

Governments should provide more support for deaf people as they play an important role in supporting disabled people’s independence and performances, according to Oscar-winning actor Troy Kotsur. “Deaf people are no different from non-disabled people. We can do anything when opportunities are sufficiently provided,” Kotsur, who won an Oscar in March for his supporting role in "CODA," said using American Sign Language at a press conference held at the Ambassador Seoul

An exhibition at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris will shed light on traditional Korean mother-of-pearl arts and lacquerware. “Najeon, the Korean Mother of Pearl Artworks -- Meeting with the Timeless Shine,” which opened Monday, focuses on artistry and the history of Korean lacquer craftsmanship. Commonly called “najeonchilgi,” the handicrafts are a type of traditional Korean lacquerware or woodwork inlaid with mother-of-pearl. A total of 63 pieces are on display, includi

A 30-volume “Science and Civilization in Korea” series encompassing the country's history and achievements in the fields of science and technology has been published in August. The series spans the pre-modern period to modern times -- 16 volumes on pre-modern and 14 on modern and contemporary times. The subjects range from specific topics, such as Hangeul, rice, religion and women, as well as major fields of science such as astronomy, engineering and mathematics. More than 60 scholar

Commemorating the inaugural Frieze Seoul and Kiaf Seoul that kicks off on Friday, the capital is in a festive mood with a flood of art events such as exhibitions, artist talks and parties well into the night. Sept. 1 to 11 has been designated as the week of art, naming it “Dive into Korean Art,” coinciding with Frieze and Kiaf Seoul. Two art clusters in Seoul, Samcheong and Hannam neighborhoods in northern Seoul, are must-visits this weekend if you are a fan of art. Of course, there

A museum on Jeju Island is gaining attention with its thought-provoking exhibition. Since opening on July 5, more than 16,000 people have attended PODO Museum’s “Yet, With Love” exhibition, as of Monday. Under the theme “Diaspora and All Minorities of the World,” the exhibition focuses on people who are pursuing new lives away from their geographical and emotional hometowns for various reasons, proposing ways to embrace inclusion and coexistence. Paintings, sculptur

Seven works were announced as winners in the EBS International Documentary Festival’s competition sections at the awards ceremony held at EBS Space Hall in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Sunday. “Nelly & Nadine,” directed by Magnus Gertten, won the grand prix while “Jason,” by Maasja Ooms, won the special jury award and the audience award in the Festival Choice: Global section. “Nelly & Nadine” revolves around a love story of two women who arrive i

Leading voices in the Korean film industry will gather at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building on Wednesday to seek their rights as content creators, the Directors Guild of Korea said Friday. Five acclaimed directors will discuss the issue of revising the Copyright Act, and call for fair remuneration and guarantee of directors’ rights, the statement said. The current copyright law stipulates that the rights to cinematographic works “shall be presumed to have been tr

Busan International Film Festival on Friday unveiled 12 films for the “Korea Cinema Today-Vision” section, a section dedicated to discovering the latest independent films and emerging Korean directors. First or second full-length films by the selected Korean filmmakers will be premiered at the section. This year’s selection ranges from drama, silent film to stop-motion animation and thriller, exploring the directors’ different approaches to their subject and filmmaking.

Physical space is as important as ever in the post-pandemic era contrary to suggestions that virtual space would largely eliminate physical space, according to experts. A group of noted scholars and architects discussed the meaning of space and its impact on cultural communication in the pandemic era at the 2022 Culture Communication Forum on Thursday. The 13th edition of the forum, organized by the Corea Image Communication Institute, was held at the Grand Hyatt Seoul in Yongsan-gu, central

In modern society where people try to pursue almost everything virtually, it is easy to forget that architecture can provide a space for emotional stability and inspiration, beyond its practical use. “No matter how advanced the technology gets, humans remain ‘irrational’ and ‘imperfect’ beings who live with emotions and memories,” said Tadao Ando, a Japanese architect who won the 1995 Pritzker Prize. “I believe architecture has unchanging values that a

An outdoor park along the Han River has been turned into an exhibition stage for sculptures. The 2022 Hangang Sculpture Project, jointly organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and K-Sculpture, an organization promoting Korean sculptors and their works, kicked off Saturday at Ttukseom Hangang Park.   Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Youn Young-dal, chairman of Crown-Haitai and K-Sculpture, attended the opening ceremony. Some 1,100 sculptures are on display, harmonizing with the riverside

After two pandemic-ridden years of online and scaled-back performances, the country‘s biggest jazz festival is set to return in October. The three-day Jarasum Jazz Festival will kick off on Oct. 1 on Jara Island, Gyeonggi Province, with 19 international performers and 13 Korean acts participating in the jazz-filled program. The 19th edition of the festival will open with singer Kim Hyun-chul, four-member keyboard band Hardpiano, jazz trio Winter To Spring and newcomers jazz vocalist Cho

The Hangang Space-out Competition is returning to the banks of the Han River after a two-year break. The Sept. 4 event will crown a champion who can remain the “most stable” while staring into space for 90 minutes. The competition, hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in collaboration with the event’s founder, Woopsyang, aims to show people the relaxing value of doing nothing, challenging the idea that spacing out is a waste of time. This year, in particular, par

Eleven hiking trails along the Demilitarized Zone, which separates the two Koreas, will open to the public next month. DMZ Peace Trail routes in 10 regions -- Ganghwado, Gimpo, Goyang, Paju, Yeoncheon, Cheorwon, Hwacheon, Yanggu, Inje and Goseong -- will be fully open from Sept. 13 to December, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Goseong has two trails. Online reservations start Tuesday. Each trail has different dates and time slots available, with a maximum of 20 people

Tickets for the performance by London Symphony Orchestra and pianist Cho Seong-jin at LG Arts Center on Oct. 13 will go on sale Sept. 1. The concert was originally planned as an invitation-only event, marking the reopening of LG Arts Center Seoul at its new location in Magok-dong, southwestern Seoul. In announcing the switch to making all of the theater’s seats available on its website Wednesday, the center said that all proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to support young art

Herald Artday, a subsidiary of Herald Corp., donated part of the proceeds from the 2022 Charity Auction to the Korean Youth Diaspora Project to support young overseas ethnic Koreans. The Korean Youth Diaspora Project was launched earlier this year by the Godowon Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to youth mentoring; the Blue Tree Foundation, a nongovernmental organization working against school violence; and The Korea Herald. The three organizations signed a memorandum in March to s